Review of Asset: Episode 9

May 24, 2014

With Episode 9 it is now confirmed that Asset has found its perfect action rhythm. This translates two ways, with story and editing. But with this episode we also have the new sub-plot of Eric and Nadja’s romance. It’s a great storyline for a couple of reasons. One it makes Eric more endearing to the audience, and it further develops Nadja giving her more depth. The two have great chemistry, which has been long delayed over their few scenes in previous episodes. Eric’s role here gets more complicated, as he’s trying to be honest with Nadja without blowing his cover. There are some good moments for him in the episode that goes beyond the bumbling inexperience we know him for in Episode 1. Nadja seems to wear a lot of yellow, and it makes her stand out in every scene she’s in. Most of them are scenes from Eric’s point of view, and this wardrobe choice tells us that Nadja’s the bright centre this nightmarish spy work. I’d be interested to see if the colour changes at all through the next couple of episodes.

Now there are technically four storylines going on through this episode: Eric and Nadja’s, Julia’s surveillance, Katyenka’s mission, and Valentine’s business. Each scene is a cause and effect to another. All these simultaneous stories make use of several quality locations, including some Prague exteriors, and shows off the production value of the show. This set up also ups the suspense with everything happening so fast.

This editing style really adds to the scene in the garage with Katyenka’s mission. Here we finally see Katyenka shake off the slutty-glamorous-model cover story and goes into full spy mode. Hopefully we’ll see more of this kind of spy action in the following episodes. Overall the Episode 9 is well done, and some great choices in how certain scenes were filmed with a film noir feel. Nadja is at the start of some well-earned character development. The cliffhanger is well timed, and our strong female characters still get featured.